Armenian president calls on Turkey to open border

Die Welt, Hamburg
19 Nov 04

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has called on Turkey to resume
bilateral relations with Armenia. Interviewed by German newspaper Die
Welt, Kocharyan said that Turkey’s closure of the border with Armenia
could only be described as “harassment”. Kocharyan said that Turkey’s
recognition of the Armenian genocide was very important but not a
condition for developing bilateral relations. The following is the
text of Dietrich Alexander’s interview with Kocharyan in Die Welt on
19 November, headlined “You can only call that harassment”;
subheadings inserted editorially:

Armenian-European cooperation

[Alexander] What do you expect from Germany and the EU?

[Kocharyan] Germany has helped include the southern Caucasus into
Europe’s New Neighbourhood programme. We now expect this programme to
be filled with concrete substance to make it interesting for the
entire region.

[Alexander] So the EU should become a stabilizing factor in the
southern Caucasus?

[Kocharyan] Yes, the partnership with the EU would have a stabilizing
effect, speed up reform processes in the region and promote
cooperation between the Caucasus states, since everybody would share
the same objectives.

[Alexander] Is your country’s objective to become an EU member?

[Kocharyan] We regard ourselves as part of Europe, are a member of the
Council of Europe and cooperate with the European nations in the
OSCE. Our reforms aim at achieving European standards. At one point
this question will become an issue.

[Alexander] And NATO membership…?

[Kocharyan] … is not on our agenda [ellipses as published].

Armenian-Turkish relations should resume without conditions

[Alexander] The border between Turkey and your country has been closed
for 11 years. How problematic are relations?

[Kocharyan] Actually, we have no relations, not even at the diplomatic
level. The border does not work, there is no trade. Turkey is
virtually putting a blockade on Armenia. One can only describe it as
harassment. We are of the opinion that we should assume bilateral
relations without any conditions. The current situation is anything
but normal.

[Alexander] So you do not expect Ankara to apologize for the arrest,
deportation and murder of hundreds of thousands of Armenians, which
the Young Turks’ movement started in 1915?

[Kocharyan] For us the recognition of the genocide of the Armenians is
very important, but it will never be a condition for developing
bilateral relations.

[Alexander] At the end of a possible normalization of your
relationship with Turkey there would have to be some sort of
admittance of guilt on the part of Turkey, wouldn’t there?

[Kocharyan] It would significantly change the atmosphere. The crime is
a fact that cannot be denied. If Ankara were to recognize this fact,
it would mean a major step toward normalization.

[Alexander] What is your explanation for Turkey’s blockade? The
closeness with your other neighbour, Turkmen [as published]
Azerbaijan, or because the Armenians are something like Turkey’s
personalized bad conscience?

[Kocharyan] The bad conscience may play a role in Turkey’s
consciousness. Yet, Ankara is now trying to link the blockade of
Armenia to the settlement of the problem concerning the enclave
[German: die Enklave] of Nagornyy Karabakh in Azerbaijan. We think
that the relationship between our country and Turkey should in no way
be dictated by relations with a third country. After all, we are not
making our relations with Turkey dependent on the solution of the
Cyprus problem.

[Alexander] Then you would have to welcome Turkey’s EU entry, which
would give the Armenians a “normal” border.

[Kocharyan] Turkey would naturally be more predictable if it were in
the EU. And Armenia would have a direct border with the EU. Yet, we
think that a country with which entry talks are opened must not block
one of its neighbours. If negotiations were started under such
conditions, it would somehow accept the current state. So far
negotiations have never been opened with any other country under such
conditions. This is what we fear and are concerned about. It is unfair
to base one’s own luck on somebody else’s misfortune.